


Soft as Pink, Fervent as Red

by Paech



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternatively titled: My Pale-Red Rosemary Propaganda, F/F, I prefer rosemary no quads but pale-red rosemary is chef's kiss, Meteorstuck, Pale-Red Vacillation, Quadrant Confusion, Self-Indulgent, happy valentine's dayy, inevitable misunderstandings, pale-red rosemary is a relationship out of this world, teen human and alien trying to understand their completely different romances, the other meteor residents are just mentioned bc this is rosemary-focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29187549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paech/pseuds/Paech
Summary: Rose and Kanaya make an effort to understand their different cultures while harboring heavy, fuzzy feelings for each other. How fun.
Relationships: Kanaya Maryam & Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde & Dave Strider, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Soft as Pink, Fervent as Red

The pages, creased and only a little worn out, pinched between Rose's soft finger pads before gently swaying it to the side when her lavender eyes skimmed enough printed words she could bother, letting the page join its paper companions. 

Rose sat comfortably in the silence of the common area, only the sounds of her soft, focused breathing puncturing the quiet aura filling the room. The meteor was quite big, there was still a few nooks and crannies she hadn't yet explored, and thankfully the vast space the meteor provided helped Rose achieve the therapeutic solitary she desired from time to time. 

Well, not particularly therapeutic, if the high swirling in her chest had anything to speak of as the burning flush practically marked Rose's cheeks. Her anticipating eyes continued to flit repeatedly over the single paragraph that explained in light detail of the concept of matespritship. It seemed easy enough to understand; Alternia's crimson quadrant matched her own race's definition of romance like a puzzle piece meant to be. Karkat's thorough rants of the importance of understanding quadrants felt exaggerating now, with the humorous fact Karkat had credited his excessive knowledge from studying romantic comedies, claiming with accusingly pointed fingers that humans were too halfwit to "get" it. The hearts quadrant was something already conventional for humans; the black quadrant was certainly an odd intimate dynamic, but she supposed the simplest way to go about it would be an admiration between sworn rivals. The ashen quadrant, something Kanaya personally had tangles with in the past and looked a little displeased with when Rose had mentioned it, was another unfamiliarized concept to her own species. She understood the dynamic clearly, using a reference of, perhaps, a child caught between their divorced parents dispute, or a friend just attempting to quell the flames of their friend group's altercation; but why would this be considered an intimate relationship? Karkat had Rose there, admittedly. She was merely just a human with one existing concept of intimate relationships. 

That aside, honestly, what was Karkat so passionately worried about? 

Turning the next page, a large diamond shaped drawing greeted her, Alternian letters stretching across the top of the page. Thanks to Rose's private lessons with Kanaya (at least, as private as Rose wished, when Vriska and Terezi would come stumbling in and interrupt whatever moment Rose and Kanaya were sharing, both girls quick to shift apart on the couch and pretend to act as if nothing had just happened) on the topic of being able to comprehend Alternian writing. 

Rose narrowed her eyes at the writing, trying to decipher the words with the little knowledge she knew of troll letters. Kanaya, bless her heart - or should she say, bloodpusher - was generous enough to teach her the basics. 

As the mysterious word was being translated in her head, Rose moved her mouth along, pronouncing it wordlessly. 

Mo-rails? No, wait. Rose studied the printed word for another moment, until it ticked in her head. 

"Moirails, hm." Rose whispered to herself, suddenly perking up when the term finally sounded familiar in her head. 

Rose recounted hearing that word thrown into the air a couple of times between the trolls on board that weren't currently tied up and left honking in dissatisfaction. 

She didn't exactly know though how that specific quadrant functioned and what its assigned rules were. 

Rose delicately flipped to the next page, and zeroed in. The further she dove into the text, the squeezing grasp on her heart spawned anguish for every line and beat. 

~

"Dave," Rose uttered softly, over the small sounds of rap music emitting from Dave's headphones that clung to his neck, her hands tangling together on the table. Dave lifted an eyebrow up above his shades, signaling a wordless 'yeah' in response as his red pen scrawled across the page of Rose's book that she let him borrow to jot down lyrics. It served as a good passing time for him whenever the Mayor was off doing his own personal carapacian shenanigans that weren't fiddling with cans and lining chalk in specific areas of what Dave dubbed 'Can Town.' This side project of theirs earned most of their undivided attention, and as the weeks lounged by, Can Town grew and nearly appeared like an actual city for miniature civilians. Rose could understand why Dave was spending most of his time manufacturing the little town with the Mayor though.

He invited Rose and Kanaya once to assist with the library, and the building process was surprisingly fun; even if it was just piling tin cans on top of each other and stepping back to hope it doesn't collapse, Kanaya's fanged smiles as Rose accidentally kicked down what looked like the city hall made her ears red and heart leap into her throat when the jadeblood released an adorable snort that Rose couldn't _possibly_ ignore, even if she tried brushing it off. The way Kanaya said her name afterwards in a chiding manner still rung in her head endlessly that night. It took a few minutes for Rose to speak up again, her expression looking as if she was holding something back before a sigh poured out between her black painted lips. This pulled Dave's attention in, lifting his head up a bit from the book in curiosity. 

"I fear that I may possibly be misinterpreting advances due to culture difference." Rose mewled, a lock of blonde hair falling from its place behind her hair, brushing against her warm brown skin. Dave piqued look towards her; it wasn't surprise, far from it, he'd already suspect Rose's feelings for Kanaya before the seer even detected it herself. The expression was more contoured into an understanding one, which was to say it was a stoic look with a slight twitch to his lips. There wasn't a hint of masking this time, and it was as emotive as Dave could muster before his cool facade squirmed. Rose appreciated that much. 

"I know trolls have like layers to their different romances like an onion, it's like they try to account every possible feeling you could have for someone into carefully filed categories that go into their Courting 101 cabinet." Dave puffed out a short laugh, tapping a finger on the dusty table that certainly needed cleaning very soon.

"Can you imagine how Valentine's Day for an average troll with all their quadrants filled? One box of heart patterned chocolates for their matesprite or whatever, and a tub of orange juice and toothpaste flavored ice cream for their kissmet fish, and nonerotic cuddles with your bromate. Or shit, do you think they have black quadrant chocolates too? Just rows filled with hearts, spades, and diamonds and shit. Do the clubs even count for Valentine's Day? I can't even remember what that shit was called." 

Rose giggled lightly, raising a hand to cup her mouth, this bringing a smirk to Dave's face along with a shine to his shades. Her mysterious and serious prominent aura foiled again by her dumb brother's antics and prattling. Fascinating. 

"But for real," Dave said, shifting his posture up a little. "What kinda advances are we talking about here?" 

Rose hummed a tad anxiously, her purple eyes resorting to staring at her nails again. "I've been reading up on quadrants lately to fill time." 

"That's a waste of precious Strilonde feelings jam." 

"Shush. And for your information, the time spent examining the quadrants wasn't dawdling, it served its purpose in the end." Rose huffed, trying to keep her tone firm. Dave propped his face onto his hand, smushing his cheek. 

"Yeah, and what's that?" 

"Understanding Kanaya and her troll coquettes," Rose answered, quickly than she noticed. She emitted a small 'mm', then shifted in her seat. A thin line of dark red dusted over her freckles, as her brows furrowed in her own frustration; frustration that she felt like an idiot, that she wasn't clear enough to Kanaya about what she was burning for in her distressed head from, caused by the responsibility that weighed suffocatingly on her shoulders by SBURB. 

Rose didn't even spare a glance to Dave's direction. "And as it turns out, Kanaya's inclinations towards me might not be what I was hoping for. I could give many examples to what lead me to this observation, but in short, her impulse to pacify me when I'm not as level-headed as I should strive to be, apparently it's a sign of pale feelings." 

Dave tilted his head to the side, suddenly appearing quizzical. She easily imagined the questioning emoticon Terezi would send in group chats plastered over Dave's face.

"The bro quadrant?" 

"Sort of." Rose croaked, shifting in her seat once again. Dave shrugged his shoulders up. 

"Nah, there's no way you two are invested in solely totally not-homo cuddle sessions on pillow piles, maybe a hand on the small of her back and probably going in for a luscious cop, but just kidding it's just a totally platonic gal pal ministration." Dave remarked, making movements with his hands. 

"Dave, I don't have _pale_ feelings for her, I'm worried _she_ might." Rose seethed, folding her arms with her elbows pressed against the table. 

"Obviously you don't." Dave said, subtly reminding Rose of the incident when he snooped through Rose's journal and discovered quantities of Kanaya entries. Suspiciously scribbled with hearts inked with purple. 

"Good, we're on the same page, I thought I'd have to confess my undiluted romantic feelings for Kanaya there and express how much I pine to smooch her lips and feel her fangs scratching wonderfully on my bottom lip." Rose sarcastically commented. Dave stuck out his tongue. Rose groaned, flopping her head into her arms with a _'thud'_. 

"I don't want to be her moirail, Dave..." Rose cried feebly, digging her nails roughly into her forearm. 

"Maybe you're reading too much into shit, your noggin is always looking for something to psychoanalyze." Dave suggested. Rose's grip began to shake, as she pressed her face more into the orange sleeves of her god tier. Rose thought desperately, that finally, maybe, the meteor trip into the endless dark space would provide tranquility after everything she's been through; witnessing her mother's cold corpse pooled around her own blood, before shortly getting stabbed and then committing a suicide mission, all in a matter of minutes. After finally reaching her status as Seer of Light, she hoped it'd be less difficult to navigate. But Kanaya wasn't something her Seer of Light status anticipated. 

Hot tears bubbled at the corners of her eyes. She couldn't believe she even thought Kanaya could've reciprocated those particular feelings. What if Kanaya expressed disdain when Rose confesses she wanted more than just fleeting moirailship. 

"I feel like such an idiot." Rose murmured, elevating her head out of her arms, her eyes glossy. Dave's mouth thinned into a straight line. Silence settled over the two, more drawls of Dave's pen intercepting with a few sniffles from Rose. 

At this point, Rose felt airheaded, dissociated from the environment closed around her. With a sudden touch of a comforting hand, Rose jumped, startled and whipping her head up from behind her shoulder, meeting her reflection in a pair of dark shades. Noticing the glistening tears, she swiftly wiped at her eyes.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Rose," Dave told her, tone mellow and enough to find solace in. "You're gonna be okay."

Rose took a trembling breath. Dave bended down to his knees to accommodate their different positions, as if he were counseling a frail child. It was a little insulting, admittedly, but she felt too weak to care and already felt sufficiently vulnerable with the tears plucking from her eyes. 

"You wanna go build some cool shit with the Mayor?" 

Rose gave a small smile in response, albeit quavery at the corners. "Yeah. Sure." 

~

Kanaya raised the dark green cloth in the air, scrunching her nose a little in discontent. The last cloth she possessed, that wasn't already used or tattered, was the most unpleasant green she ever laid her vision spheres on. It was such an ugly shade, she thought her eyes would melt out of her sockets for the prolonged seconds she stared at it. If Terezi were to taste test this, she'd probably hack before crouching over, clutching her stomach while gagging about how it tasted like expired grubloaf that's been sitting in the sun with red grubsauce drizzled all over it. This depiction in her mind alone made Kanaya's stomach begin to churn. 

Bunching up the sickly green fabric and tossing it into a makeshift trash can, Kanaya made important note of disposing that thing in a quick and brutal way. 

"I need to alchemize new fabrics." Kanaya vocalized to herself. Not now, though. Later. 

She had some business to attend to. Courtly business that did not involve any sort of alchemizing better shades of fabrics and permanently assassinating an ugly piece of cloth. 

Rose and Kanaya scheduled a hangout yesterday for some formal, undisclosed plans. Just plans, as Rose had simply said. Mystifying plans, Kanaya supposed; but it bubbled up peculiar excitement in her tightened chest. Kanaya couldn't imagine how it would've been like if she chose the opportunity to stay behind with Sollux and Aradia before she resolved on boarding the meteor (much to Rose's assistance). She treasured each minute she got to spend with Rose in the large, dark rock, she'd often unconsciously switch her attention to Rose away from the book they were sharing and focus on the extreme curiosity Rose had in her eyes, and the fast movements of her lips that the jadeblood tried desperately not thinking about touching. 

The jadeblood exited her respiteblock with a soft click to the door, then walked along the voiceless halls leading to the common room, where Rose suggested they meet up. Kanaya entered the common area, a smile already forming on her face when the red couch approached her eyes, but instead of soft blonde hair with an orange headhand sitting atop it, allowing strings of hair to be mussed, a patch of wildly sprayed out black hair and two orange nubs could be perceived from the couch. 

"Karkat?" Kanaya peered over the couch, eyes that matched her own with two bristling brows seated above confirmed it was, indeed, Karkat Vantas. A twinge of disappointment walloped in her, but she pushed it away regardless. 

"Oh, hey." Karkat greeted, a little too loud as usual, and then whipped his eyes back to the screen. Kanaya followed suit, glancing to the screen momentarily. One of Karkat's movies were being presented, though she couldn't recognize this one. From what she can assume, the little rambunctious rustblood girl must've been the protagonist, along with a lean and stoic indigoblood that seemed to care for the small rust like a lusi would. The dynamic reminded her of Nepeta and Equius, in a way. It was an awfully sweet display.

"Weren't you meeting with Rose?" Karkat asked out of the blue. Kanaya looked back to Karkat, letting out a soft 'oh' and then gave a minor nod.

"We were supposed to meet here, but..." Kanaya trailed off, her pointed ears lowering down a tad. A sharp pang seared into her again, the jadeblood coughing into her hand as a nervous tic. 

"I do not know where she is." Kanaya said, a tad hesitantly. She knew how Karkat got on the topic of her relationship with Rose; any small mistake that Rose would accidentally enact, and Karkat would already be fuming at the human, getting intensely defensive over his friend. Kanaya didn't understand this sort of behavior at first, but stopped asking when the mutant clarified he didn't want Rose to be tugging at her bloodpusher, already getting flustered at the implications of the latter. 

Tonight, though, she didn't feel like dealing with Karkat getting triggered into another rant about how injudicious the humans were. Karkat seemed too tired, anyways. 

"Maybe she got detoured." Karkat said, scratching underneath his chin. Kanaya only remained quiet, staring at the floor. This plan wasn't too forgettable to Rose, was it? Kanaya rarely ever forgot a meetup they had together, even the most brief ones. The same pang flooded back and her mouth twitched into a frown. 

Karkat groaning broke Kanaya out of her thoughts, however. 

"She's so fucking insufferable," Karkat pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm nearly convinced dying repeatedly impeded maturation process, that or the human soporfics she gargles herself in is what brutally murdered her thinkpan, so now she's just rendered into an unaware vegetable." 

"I'm sure she just forgot, Karkat." Kanaya said, but the mutantblood flapped his hand at her, shaking his head. He threw his arms into the air, no longer in his slouching position on the couch, an extremely clear physical sign he was agitated. Apparently he wasn't so drowsy anymore. 

"Forgot, my nook! She's just being a pathetic insolent organic being and probably got nervous, as usual." Karkat scoffed. Kanaya rolled her dull black eyes. 

"Yes, and then you launch yourself into a colorful rant that's solely based on connecting Rose to a waste receptacle full of clowns." Kanaya deadpanned, Karkat perking up with his chest puffed out self-righteously. 

"That's fucking right," Karkat stated unshakably. But then his brows knit together into a worried look, peering up at Kanaya. "I'm just looking out for you, Kanaya. These humans are still pretty new to us, and there's only five of us including Gamzee, even though Vriska and Terezi practically have him like a docile lowblood in ropes." He gave a small chortle of disbelief.

"It's important that you and me, specifically, take care of each other, especially around these bumbling humans." he continued, placing a supporting hand on her arm. 

Kanaya raised her shoulders neurotically. "I appreciate the caring and heartfelt statement, Karkat, but I'm not very-"

"Like Kanaya, have you even _noticed_ the confusing quadrant cues Rose hands you?" the mutant interrupted, causing Kanaya to go quiet. What?

"What?" Kanaya tilted her head, perplexed. Karkat nodded vigorously, slipping his hand off her arm and going back to making his expressive movements. 

"It's not even just her either, you copy that shit too." Karkat said matter-of-factly, jabbing a gentle finger to her shoulder. Kanaya's face contorted bemusedly. Thoughts surged around her head. Whatever was he on about?

"What do you even mean by that?" 

Karkat drawled out a heavy sigh, then stood up and trudged into the hall. "Hold on a sec." 

_**Karkat Vantas' Quadrant And Romance Entanglement Oration: HUMAN EDITION!** _

Black ink bled into the presentation paper, a quick _'snap'_ of the marker meeting with its cap and sealing closed. Little fruits were scribbled beneath and above it in a cognizant line, along with a poorly drawn small doodle of a yammering Karkat accompanying the far left side of the title. Karkat stood straight beside the board, with Kanaya seated in a metal chair and the only participant for his lecture. Beside Dave plopped down in a beanbag in the background and chilling, that is. Karkat growled frustratingly, pointing the pen towards him. 

"Why the fuck are you here?!" 

Dave held up his hand near his mouth. "Emotional support." 

Karkat whispered insults underneath his breath, only to a range that Kanaya could hear, before turning his eyes to the sole focus of the session. 

"Kanaya," Karkat instituted. He set his tone more professional-wise, as if he was initially trained for this. "Your quadrant ventures have been so goddamn atrocious, I've finally decided, after much unbearable wrangles with my past and future self in trashed logs, and also because I care about you way too much to just survey this, it's time I step into the ring of What The Fuck Is Kanaya Maryam Doing as you obstruct your view and frolic around in prohibited zones, because you apparently have a taste for bad bitches and that's a problem." 

Kanaya and Dave remained quiet, with the jadeblood already giving him a look while Dave seemingly didn't have anything to say. Karkat took this as his cue to continue. 

"One of the prohibited zones we're going to be diving ass-deep into is," Karkat clipped the white paper between his fingers and flipped it over, revealing in black bold letters 'HUMANS', what appeared to be a smirky Rose and stoic Dave right underneath. "These soft and ugly looking worms." 

"Damn, appreciate the fanart." Dave said, intentionally pulling another indignation reaction from the troll. 

"Strike fucking two, Strider, stop interrupting me." Karkat barked, Kanaya observing the situation amusingly. 

"Kanaya, you remember when I strictly advised not to forge close correspondences with humans at the beginning of SGRUB so I don't need to refresh your memory on that shitfest, and we're literally travelling through space in an old hurdling rock with still another full year to laboriously get through with only eight passengers on board, and predictably we're gonna get desperate for any sort of communication in these hopeless times, so I'll give you a pass on that, although hesitantly." Karkat prattled on, Kanaya could only give a quick nod instead of a verbal answer before he continued his lecture. 

"BUT there's still complications when it comes to close companionship with humans, and you know what I mean." Karkat squinted at her, his hand at the bottom of the page. An embarrassed green flush colored Kanaya's cheeks, but she tried brushing it away, not meeting her friend's eye. 

"I have no idea what you're referring to, Karkat, honestly I'm starting to think this whole session was probably a mistake and I have things to do anyways like, um, sewing I guess. That's a thing I like doing, yes." Kanaya rambled, a nonconvincing expression overruling her face. When he flipped the page, the four quadrants presented itself to the two entrants. The diamond and heart were circled with unmistakably bright red this time, breaking apart from the presentation's usual black marker. Kanaya sunk low in her chair, swallowing thickly. 

"You, Kanaya Maryam, my dear wigglerhood friend," Karkat drawled out, his voice boistering and setting up his conclusion. He unconcealed the pen and drew a straight line from the heart to the diamond. "Have been _vacillating_ with a human like you're inconclusive of what you even wish to aim for with this connection and you know it." He slammed the pen down onto the board with a thick ' _thump_ ' that drove the point to home.

A sweat ran down her temple. Dave's brows were rose high in the back. 

"It's not that I'm inconclusive, it's just that I'm not quite sure what exactly I'm leading myself into, really." Kanaya tried quelling, but it only fueled Karkat further. 

"Because you're too nervy to ask Rose about your relationship and dissecting it, and instead you'd rather flail impotent in this big Rose sea and eventually drown in the blends of red and pink." Karkat criticized. Dave, meanwhile, had his phone pulled out, his fingers sliding across the screen with the phone light bouncing off his shades. 

TG: karkat is melting my ears off right now i shouldve alchemized some earplugs before i came

TT: Oh, my. Looks like we may have another physically impeded passenger on the meteor. 

TT: What is he lecturing about? 

TG: addressing to me and kanaya that tomatoes arent in fact not fruits despite having an appearance like one

TG: you should see him hes lookin like a riled up tomato himself

When Dave lifted his gaze, he met Karkat's glare, but underneath it was a shared knowing look, like he easily pinpointed who it was Dave was texting. The look alone communicated the words 'don't meddle in with their business'. Dave nodded slightly, an understanding one to the fellow knight, and the creased expression in Karkat's face relaxed. He cared a great deal about Kanaya, Dave couldn't blame him for wanting some bastard to spill the jadeblood's beans when it was an exceedingly sensitive subject. 

"Which spirals me to my next point," Karkat flipped the page again, leaving only two more sections left to be divulged in. There was only bold letters on the page, so Kanaya read it aloud herself. 

"How to disclose your certain feelings on someone you're experiencing vacillation with...?" Kanaya uttered, her tone sounding a bit confused. "Karkat, is this really necessary?" 

"Yes." Karkat said affirmatively. 

"I don't think it's right for you to decide what quadrant I should be settled in with Rose, though." Kanaya stated, wavering between having a firm tone but tinted kindly. She appreciated Karkat's want to aid and figure out her relationship with Rose, but to choose what their relationship should be according to him was a tad too...much.

"I don't wanna see your relationship with Rose turn into an emotional slag heap like mine and Terezi's did, so I think it'd be best if I helped you guide you to which quadrant would be more efficient concerning Rose." Karkat's hand was already creeping to the corner of the page, preparing to flip it and exhibiting what quadrant Karkat thought would result in the best. But Kanaya didn't want to see it. It wasn't her fault she had accidentally caught two conflicting emotions around Rose, her indecisiveness flaming in her chest each time, whether to kiss her or to pap her. Why couldn't she just solve her own feelings herself?

Maybe, in the end, she was scared regardless of what pattern they fell in. 

Before Karkat revealed the next sheet, Kanaya's palmhusk buzzed, alerting the jadeblood on a whim and thanking the horrorterror gods out there. 

Purple text sliced through her bloodpusher. 

TT: I'm sorry, Kanaya, it appears I have foolishly forgotten our date today in the common area. Is it too late to offer an appointment over at Can Town? I think it's of great significance that we address something. 

TT: I meant hangout instead of date. Sorry.

Kanaya looked up at Karkat, already opening her mouth, but Karkat gave her a softening stare. Kanaya chewed on her lip, then stood up from her chair with Karkat murmuring to her.

"Good luck." And he meant it.

~

Rose fiddled with the hems of her god tier, visibly highly strung. The Mayor busied himself marking an outline for a new building with white chalk, powder collecting at his palms. Kanaya would be coming over any second now, and the moment Rose gets a chance, she'll finally unravel about what indefinite state was going on in their relationship. Kanaya wasn't dumb either; she knew what they were dancing around. Kanaya was her best friend, Rose could definitely confirm with that without a hint of doubt or hesitation. 

She'd never had someone who matched her wit and could keep up with her snarky banter. It was wonderful, everything about Kanaya was, and Rose didn't want to entertain the thought of potentially losing her. 

"Rose?" 

The blonde swallowed back her fears, straining her eyes on the gray tincan in front of her, then slowly looking up to see Kanaya. Rose nearly choked up. 

"Um, yes, uh," Rose fumbled, scooting so Kanaya could come and sit by her. "Hi Kanaya." ' _Just 'hi Kanaya'? Ugh'_ Rose muttered in her mind, refraining from slapping her hand into her face. 

"Is it alright if I sit here?" Kanaya asked. Rose nodded vigorously, probably enough to hurt her brain. 

Settling next to Rose, their fingers nearly touching by an inch, the Mayor and Kanaya exchanged little waves before he resumed his construction work.

High tension coated the air, both girls sitting stock-still, not daring to speak a word. Rose pinched the skin of her hand, biting her lip. How was she even supposed to bring this up? Confess her feelings like some lovesick dunce? 

"The library." Kanaya said thinly, causing Rose to jump a little in place. 

"Hm?" 

Kanaya pointed behind Rose, directing the attention to the sizeable tin library. It was colored in and sealed perfectly, with no cans sticking out haphazardly. 

"Oh, yes, I finished that earlier this evening." Rose said, rubbing her arm embarrassingly. Kanaya gazed at the library enthralled. Heat pooled at Rose's cheeks the longer Kanaya stared at her work. 

"Frankly, I think it's the most astounding tincan building in here," Kanaya mused, then leaned into Rose, which startled the seer greatly. "Between you and I, that is." she pointed over at the Mayor. Rose snickered, bringing about a fluttering inside Kanaya's chest. The jadeblood only felt more high, her pointed ears twitching unconsciously. 

_'Be still my stupid bloodpusher.'_

Once the cheeky snickers died down, inevitable silence fell upon them again, seemingly more thicker this time around. Thoughts rushed and gushed in Kanaya's head, her claws accidentally scratching against her rough, gray skin. The Mayor started side-eyeing the two girls, riveted by the situation. 

This wasn't going to get anywhere. Not if one of them poked the bubble. 

Rose drawled in a shaky breath. Her lips pressed together, scared and anxious and warm, and then-

"Kanaya..." 

The jadeblood froze, her eyes flitting down back to Rose, meeting her beautiful lavender eyes that Kanaya once or twice lead her astray. She was too humiliated to count the repeated occasions when her sewing needle pricked her finger. 

"I feel like if I continue to bottle up these feelings of adulation, I'll eventually fucking explode." Rose blurted out, her expression twisting into something tiring and truthful, like she'd been holding in these words for long years. 

Kanaya's mouth slightly gaped, black eyes minimized into discs on yellow sclera. Something lurched into Rose's throat, her stomach tying into multiple knots.Admitting to Kanaya she held affections for her wasn't the hardest part; the most difficult part was bringing to light what _type_ they were.

"I'm exhausted of feeling this way, of hiding something so urgent that involves you, I just...." Rose stuttered on her words, feeling balmy behind her eyes. "I suppose I was just too afraid to admit how I feel, but after living like this for the past year, I don't think I can drag myself any further down, troll romance complications be damned." 

Rose emitted a bittersweet laugh, her glassy pupils staring sincerely at Kanaya. "I'm in love with you, Kanaya."

"I..." Kanaya paused, long and taking careful consideration of her words. Fuck, the gears in her head shifted to a stop. Karkat's bombarding voice vibrated in her thoughts. 

_'SAY SOMETHING, YOU CARING, SELFLESS DUMMY!'_

Kanaya discharged a rather mangled noise, making Rose gaze at her alarmed. Well, that made it worse. 

"Uhh, fuck," green overtook Kanaya's face, heat filling her cheeks, ears, neck. "Urgh, I - dear god, I messed this up." 

Rose shook her head, her hands flying over to Kanaya's arm, the taller girl feeling the nervous sweat secreting from Rose's palms. The whole moment was so agonizingly awkward, but Rose stubbornly refused to give up.

"No - no, no, you didn't!" Rose croaked, red blooming around her own features. Kanaya gave another pathetic noise. The Mayor absolutely wasn't focusing on his project now, in fact it appeared he was growing worried about the troll.

"I'm not as competent as I look, sorry." Kanaya muttered. Rose cautiously brought her thumb up to Kanaya's cheek, softly caressing her rough dermis and appreciating everything that caused her to play SBURB, her own stubbornness, and the chances the game gave her to meet the most wonderful and breath-taking girl she'd ever glimpsed at. 

But the ministrations didn't help as much as Rose thought it would. They were so - so _pale_ , the soft streaks gently lining around her cheeks and near her ear, with Rose burying her nose into her silk hair and comforting in a haze like a moirail would. Her bloodpusher felt so sore. 

"How are we going to make this work?" Kanaya choked out, fangs stabbing at her bottom lip, but she couldn't care less. Rose separated herself, though her hands still clung to Kanaya's arms, a perplexed look strained on her face. 

"Could you elaborate?" Rose questioned, in a mild manner. Kanaya's eyes start hitting everywhere in the room, from the chalk lining, to Mayor, to Rose's chest ( _urgh_ ), then finally stopping at purple orbs. 

"The way you act with me, it's hard to pinpoint whether or not you're leaning into something more red, more amorous, or if you're just wrenching me along into an old pattern I've suffered through before." Kanaya confessed, ears swiveled down. Rose's hold on her arms suddenly loosened. 

"Am I...am I the one making this difficult? I don't want you seeing my feelings for you as frivolous, Kanaya." Rose said, stiffly debating if she should keep her clasp, it was entirely unwelcome at this point, until Kanaya's sorrowful voice rung in the air.

"Quadrant blur is seen as indescribable on Alternia, and eventually needing to be settled on a single quadrant to seem consequential," Kanaya told her, entangling her fingers at the back of her black hair. 

"It's seen as quadrant hoarding, only confused trolls would end up in such an affair. And I've always suspected that I knew what I desired from someone else, but speaking to you, I kept unraveling pale inclinations towards you that blended with scarlet red and I...at this point, I'm not entirely sure what I want." 

Rose looked sympathetic now. Kanaya just felt numb, as well as a range of different emotions that completely conflicted with one another. Why did interspecies relationships have to be so insanely difficult to sought?

"I've been confused too," Rose said, slow and tender, sliding her hands to its previous place on the troll's arms, reattaching itself. "Specific types of troll romances are very new to me, but I don't want this species difference hardship to separate us." 

"Then what do you propose? We flounder in a strange abnormal mix of two quadrants that shouldn't be overlapping!" Kanaya stressed. Though a glint reflected in Rose's eyes, an idea. 

"What if we did?" 

Kanaya was immediately taken aback. "I - what?" 

Rose retracted a hand, then grabbed her crush's chin with the utmost tender touch. "What if we flipped? Blended? Become a hybrid between matesprits and moirails, our relationship so complex for our respective species to even begin pinpointing?"

The Mayor was watching them like as if his favourite soap opera just came on now.

 _"Rooose..."_ Kanaya groaned. "Have you been tuning me out? Quadrant smears are _looked down upon_ , only wigglers enact that sort of relationship when they can't decide on their feelings." 

"Well, it seems we fit that perfect description then. I'll happily take being called 'selfish' in pride if it means I'll be able to smooch and pap you whenever I want." Rose declared, slowly but surely poking Kanaya into the idea. Kanaya flushed jade, one last complaint on her tongue. 

"But Alternia doesn't-"

"I don't think Alternia hosts the homo sapiens either, yet here I am." 

Kanaya stayed quiet, the green on her face gradually overtaking the gray. But still, Kanaya wasn't entirely sold on the idea, of their relationship flipping like a pillow, her anxiety swelling into a sizeable ball that only kept spiraling; but when plush lips gently fitted against her own, pressing into her nerves, Kanaya forgot what she was even fretting.

~

A fresh breeze swayed through the small peak of the window, light chirps of the afternoon birds slipping into the house and echoing throughout the four walls. A sloppy pile of throw blankets and pillows scattered around the living room floor as the warm daylight haze sprayed inside. Rose and Kanaya were curled into each other on the mountain of cushions, Rose's leg under Kanaya's with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Kanaya's nose entrapped in Rose's golden hair and breathing in their shared vanilla scented shampoo. Rose perched her head right underneath Kanaya's chin, comfortably sighing into her neck that tickled the jadeblood with a slight chuckle escaping her lips. They were both still cladded in their pajamas, Kanaya wearing a mismatched yellow and green fuzzy shirt and pajama pants, while Rose preferred to wear Kanaya's shirt that she cheekily stole and light colored lavender shorts. 

The display almost seemed like nothing but a cuddlefest between two supporting moirails, the diamonds basically glowing off the two. Moirails who had no one but each other in the darkest hours of their life. But then, an amorous kiss got planted on Kanaya's neck, and hearts popped up between the diamonds. 

Kanaya reacted with a kiss to Rose's head, so tenderly and soft, like a moirail's kiss to their stressed partner out of control. Kanaya hummed into Rose's scalp, her eyelids fluttering and trying desperately not to lull asleep. It was growing hastily strenuous to resist the throes, but Rose's small movements pulled her in and out of lucid. 

A sunspot bathed over the two, hitting Kanaya directly in the eyes and causing her to whine. 

"It looks like the day wants us to get up, my materail." Rose giggled into her neck, leaving another lipstick stain. 

"I told you not to call me that." Kanaya said, repulse seizing back her lips. Rose smirked mischievously, blushing pink.

"Settling on just 'girlfriend' after all, then? A bit human normal but okay." Rose mused. Kanaya shushed her with a pap to her back.

"You're a human anyways, darling."

Rose made an amused noise, mulling thoughts around her head, before a reminder popped in her mind. She propped herself up on her elbows, attempting to look face to face with her girlfriend/matesprit/moirail/whatever term they decided use each morning they woke up.

"Y'know, today is Valentine's Day," Rose whispered, ghosting her lips on Kanaya's chin. "Did you have any particular romantic occasions you wanted to do, given that today is our first Valentine's Day together on Earth C?"

"Mmm, I'd rather spend all day laying here thank you." Kanaya snaked her arms around Rose and held her securely to herself, squeezing the human. Rose wheezed with laughter clipping into it, putting her mouth near Kanaya's pointed ear. 

"That does sound like a dream, yes, but we still haven't spent much time outside Earth C than the first day we all got here, and I think we both very much require some sunlight for our health." Rose said, peppering kisses to the tip of her ear. They were so adorably smeared in red and pale it was disgustingly stomach churning, as Karkat said.

"Fine then what do you have in mind for this human holiday, because the way you speak of it sounds like you have a planner somewhere." Kanaya mewled, burying her hand into Rose's hair. Rose smooched Kanaya's nose before answering. 

"Maybe we can go eat somewhere expensive, or to a carnival? I heard the ambience there during Valentine's is _exceedingly_ romantic." Rose suggested, now seating herself on Kanaya's stomach, legs cradling her sides. 

"And afterwards?"

"Some more cuddling that leans more biased to red." Rose stretched out her arms upward, poking her tongue between her lips playfully.

"Well, how can I deny such a bargain?" Kanaya murmured, giving a soft chuckle. Exchanging more pale and red ministrations, the two finally mustered the energy to slug out of the pile, their hairs both mussed. 

"Would you like some eggs before we head out, Rose?" Kanaya asked, brushing her girlfriend's bangs away from purple eyes that enchanted the jadeblood so very much. 

"That would be superb, firefly." Rose replied with a warm smile, giving one last tender kiss and pap to her girlfriend before heading to take a shower. 

**Author's Note:**

> will most likely make more pale/red rosemary blend content in the future bc I adore it so much


End file.
